U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism, and Intolerance for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, issued a statement regarding plans by the Hungarian government to fund a statue honoring Bálint Hóman, one of the architects of Hungary’s anti-Jewish laws and member of […]
Ronald S. Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress, had some sharp words this week, regarding plans to erect a statue in memory of historian Bálint Hóman, Hungary’s Minister of Religion and Education between 1932 and 1938, and again between 1939 and 1942, during the fascistic Horthy era. The statue is planned for the western Hungarian town of Székesfehérvár. While […]
One of the tensions in the European Union is between those who seek an ever deeper, more integrated union of member states, and those who prefer a larger, continually expanding EU, but one where fewer areas of national sovereignty are pooled. The two tracks need not be inherently at odds with each, but it is difficult to imagine a deeply […]
Proemcards by Montreal author Endre Farkas – a combination of prose, poetry and reflections on a journey to Hungary after having fled decades ago – continues from Part 1. 4. Back at the Thermal and Wellness Hotel, I took to the Baths. The Baths were another turn-of-the-century luxury, a cure, a social activity for the wealthy. It also became a […]
The following pieces are based on my 2010 visit to Hungary and a journal that I kept while there. They are in a form I call “proemcards.” Proemcards are a hybrid creation of mine composed of prose and poems, thoughts, observations, impressions and experiences I had during my stay. This is the first part in a series to appear in […]
The Orbán government has decided to press charges against Gergely Nyilas, a journalist who works for the popular Index news site. Nyilas wrote a series of reports on the treatment of refugees, posing as “Georgij Kulakov,” a migrant from Kyrgyzstan, to write his pieces. According to the government, Mr. Nyilas broke the law by registering as a refugee. Many of […]
Csaba Latorcai, the Orbán government’s deputy state secretary in charge of religious groups, minorities and affairs relating to the Jewish community, just wrapped up what was likely a very successful trip to Canada. Hungary’s state news agency (MTI) published quite a gushing report of the unbridled successes of the week-long Canada-wide tour, where Mr. Latorcai was accompanied, for most of […]
HFP’s Hungarian-language sister publication, the Kanadai Magyar Hírlap, published a lengthy and–we think–insightful interview with András Heisler, the President of the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities (Mazsihisz), during his official visit to Canada this week. Mr. Heisler was coming alongside Deputy State Secretary Csaba Latorcai and spent five days in Canada, meeting with various levels of federal government, including the […]
On Monday, the European Commission registered what in the EU is called a European Citizens Initiative (ECI), which is calling for the Union to invoke the dreaded Article 7 against the Orbán government, in response to systemic rule of law violations, xenophobia and the disregard for the values of liberal parliamentary democracy. An ECI is actually a new mechanism in […]
Razor wire is now stretched along a 110-mile Hungarian border. The razor wire protects the Christian culture of Hungary from the Muslims, according to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Jesus is the Christ from whom the word “Christian” is derived. I doubt that Jesus himself would applaud Mr. Orbán’s use of the word “Christian” to defend his treatment of these desperately […]
